Starting as soon as Tuesday, prosecutors will finally be ready to try to convince a Denver jury that the fatal shot was fired by Willie D. Clark, whom police describe as a soldier in Denver's Tre Tre Crips gang. Court records indicate witnesses will say Clark was manhandled by someone with the Broncos party, felt disrespected and might have sought revenge.

"Shortly after this altercation, another witness reported that he/she was in the area near the Safari Club, and that he/she encountered Clark where Clark asked this witness' friend for a 'heater,' which he/she understood to be Clark's request for a handgun," according to the grand jury's indictment of Clark.

Advertisement

"At approximately this same time, Clark was also seen by a different witness who reported that he/she saw Clark in a white Sports Utility Vehicle, described by the witness as a Chevy Tahoe or Blazer."

The defense, however, appears ready to say Clark was nowhere near the Williams limousine when the shots were fired.

To decide the case, jurors will have to choose a credible version of events from accounts told under oath by both millionaire sports heroes with pristine pasts and street thugs with long criminal records. The star eyewitness may be a gangster with a deal pending with prosecutors to avoid life in prison.

Clark, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, 16 counts of attempted murder, two counts of second-degree assault, illegal discharge of a firearm and other crimes that could land him in prison for the rest of his life.

Clark has told The Denver Post he did not kill Williams but declined to discuss what he was doing at the time of the shooting because he did not want to reveal his trial strategy.

"At the time the police reports indicate the victims were shot, Willie Clark was driving his black Tahoe in downtown Denver in the vicinity of 18th Avenue and Glenarm," Clark's attorney, Abraham Hutt, wrote in court records.

Fateful argument breaks out

Court documents provide only snapshots of the events that led up to the New Year's Day homicide.

Shortly before the club closed at 1:30 a.m., an argument between the two groups began — the cause has never been revealed — and spilled outside to the sidewalk at 10th Avenue and Broadway at closing time.

As Clark stood near a rented limousine and continued arguing, a man grabbed Clark by the head.

Moments later, Williams and 16 friends got into a Hummer limousine and drove away. A witness is expected to testify that Clark asked for the gun and then got behind the wheel of the Tahoe.

On Speer Boulevard at West 11th Avenue, at least 15 shots from two guns were fired at the limo from a passing white Tahoe.

One of the bullets struck Williams in the neck. He slumped over and died in teammate Javon Walker's arms.

Two passengers in the limo, Nicole Reindl and Brandon Flowers, were wounded.

Clark was indicted by a Denver grand jury in October 2008, five months after an inmate housed with Clark in federal custody leaked a letter to the Rocky Mountain News reportedly written by Clark confessing he was the shooter.

The newspaper published the letter and had it analyzed by a handwriting expert who concluded Clark wrote it.

Documents show an "associate of Clark" who was inside the white Tahoe told police that Clark was driving and was the only person inside the SUV who was shooting at the limousine.

Daniel "Ponytail" Harris, who accompanied Clark to The Shelter that night, has not been publicly identified as that witness.

But if he is called to testify by prosecutors, the defense plans a vigorous cross-examination because they believe Harris struck a deal with federal prosecutors in his crack-cocaine-trafficking case in exchange for his testimony against Clark.

Harris was riding in the white Tahoe when the shooting happened, and because two different guns were used, the defense could raise the possibility that Harris was shooting.

After the homicide, Harris left Denver and boarded a plane to Cancun, Mexico. Harris returned to Denver six months later after learning he had been charged in a federal drug case.

Two other men who prosecutors say were in the Tahoe that night, Kataina "Markie" Jackson-Keeling and Mario Anderson, were indicted on perjury charges, accused of lying to a grand jury investigating the homicide. They await trial on those charges.

Jackson-Keeling and Anderson denied knowledge of the crime and told detectives they did not want to talk or they would be killed.

Williams' mother said she wasn't sure whether she will travel from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to attend Clark's trial.

"I don't know yet; I have not made up my mind," she said. "It's just rehashing everything."

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

PARIS (AP) — Bye, New York! Ciao, Milan! Bonjour, Paris! The world's largest traveling circus of fashion editors, models, buyers and journalists has descended on the French capital, clutching their metro maps and city guides, to cap the ready-to-wear fashion season. Full Story